Mozzarella Sticks

When going out to eat it is always so hard for me to decide what to order. I've always had trouble making decisions when it will affect other people, (ie. where we should go out to eat in the first place). I think this is because I don't want to choose something that someone else won't enjoy, its like their opinion is much more important than mine. But choosing the food that I want to eat doesn't really affect anyone but me. So you would think that this wouldn't be a hard thing for me. But somehow it still is.

I'm not really sure where my problem began with making decisions, but I know its always been something I've struggled with.  I never want(ed) to choose something and then find out later that something else would have been a better choice. In 5th grade I had a teacher that tried to help all his students with this problem, of making decisions. Instead of answering "I don't know" or "I don't care" or "It doesn't matter", he made us answer the questions and make a decision. And during that year I got really good at making decisions (like its some sort of skill?) and the following year I was still good at making decisions. But somewhere along the way I lost this skill, and it became difficult for me to make decisions again.

So, sometimes when we go out to eat I like to order the appetizer sampler platter, as my meal. I mean its perfect, 3 or 4 delicious appetizers to eat, and that way I don't feel like I'm missing out on some flavor, I can have a little bit of everything. And one of my favorite things that they usually have on these sampler platters are mozzarella sticks.

And now with thanks to Pinterest, I have discovered that they are so easy to make from home. And this discovery might actually be pretty dangerous for me, and maybe for you too. But they are delicious, and gooey, and scrumptious, and perfect. Don't just trust me, this is one you'll have to try this out for yourself.

1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs

10 sticks of string cheese
Vegetable Oil

1. Preheat a large pan filled with about 1/2 inch to 1 inch of oil. Heat over medium low.
2. Place flour in one bowl, eggs beaten in a second, and both kinds of bread crumbs mixed in a third.
3. Roll the cheese sticks in flour until covered.
4. Dip cheese sticks in beaten egg, cover completely.
5. Dip cheese sticks in breadcrumbs, and roll  to cover completely.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5.
7. Place the mozzarella sticks (a few at a time) in preheated oil, and fry until crispy and browned, about 2 minutes on each side.
8. Repeat with remaining mozzarella sticks.
9. Keep mozzarella sticks warm in an oven set at 200 degrees, or microwave for 30 seconds to warm.
10. Enjoy plain, or dipped in ranch or marinara sauce. Yum!

What do you order when you go out to eat? How do you decide?

Green Bean Casserole

This recipe isn't really any sort of secret, since I found it on the side of a Campbell's Soup Cream of Mushroom Soup Can. But I altered it ever so slightly, to my liking, and I think you'll like it too.

We went to Nate's aunt's house (on his dad's side) for Thanksgiving dinner this year. Although our parents live on opposite sides of the country (California and Virginia) we are not lacking in the extended family department here in Utah. We actually both have the majority of our aunts and uncles in the area. So, although we were unfortunately not able to make it to Virginia for Thanksgiving (as was previously planned) because of lack of funds (you know paying for a down payment really emptied our bank accounts) we had plenty of options. And since we are going to my parents for Christmas, I thought it would be best if Thanksgiving was spent with some sort of family from Nate's side.

So, we went up to Nate's aunt's house in Centerville, and even took the pup with us too. As there would be 4 other large dogs there for him to play with. Unfortunately he got into a small brawl with another dog over a toy, but luckily no major damage was done.

Anyway, for Thanksgiving dinner we were asked to bring green bean casserole. And as there would be about 20 people (and obviously not accounting all of the other side dishes that would be available for consumption) I decided to make 2 casserole dishes full of the creamy green bean mixture. Unfortunately only about 2/3 of one dish was eaten, but lucky for us that meant we could have leftovers for a week (hah!). But, luckily for you I'm going to give you the halfed version of what I made.

Green Bean Casserole

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

1 cup of milk

2 TBS soy sauce

1/4 tsp ground pepper

5 cans cut green beans (or 10 cups)

3 cups french fried onions

1.Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a medium bowl combine mushroom soup, milk, soy sauce, pepper, green beans and 1 1/2 cups french fried onions.

3. Put  casserole mixture in a 9x13 pan.

4. Bake for about 25 minutes.

5. Top with remaining onions and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

 Enjoy as a delicious side to any dinner.

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Chicken Enchilada Nachos

 Finally! I made a recipe for you. This recipe is originally from Campbell's Kitchen. We've been in our house for over a week now, and things are starting to come together. We still have a few boxes to unpack and things to organize, but we absolutely love being in OUR home, and have no complaints against it so far. (Ps. I'm not looking forward to the first thing going wrong in our house, at least the seller gave us a 2 year home warranty, right?)

This recipe is amazingly easy and fast, so when you don't have a lot of time (like our life for the past couple weeks, this is a good recipe to go to).

1 can (12.5) chicken breast, drained

1 can  (12.5oz) black beans, rinsed and drained 

1 can (12.5 oz) corn, drained

1 can(10.75 oz) cream of mushroom soup

1 can (4 oz) diced green chiles

1 TBS chili powder

tortilla chips

shredded cheese

1. Combine black beans, corn, cream of mushroom soup, green chiles, and chili powder in a medium sized sauce pan over medium heat for a few minutes, until hot and bubbling.
2. Arrange chips on a large plate (or two).
3. Spread chicken mixture over chips.
4. Sprinkle cheese on top of chicken mixture and chips.
5. Microwave for about 1 minute, until cheese is melted.

6. Enjoy. **

**You could also top this olives, avocados, jalapeno, green onions, cilantro etc.

I actually halved this recipe because I knew it would be way too much for Nate and I alone, and we still had sauce leftover that Nate used as a chip dip last night. It is a little bit of an awkward recipe to halve though, just so you, we used half cans of everything (except the chicken was a smaller can, and I didn't halve the green chiles) -- anyway, if you have other recipes to use corn and black beans and things then you could totally halve this recipe, or if you're making it for more people just keep it as. 

It was delicious and SO simple. So make this and enjoy.

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Creamy Pulled Pork Taquitos

If you have a small family like ours, or even if you don't, you might have the same problem as we do. Leftovers. What do we do with all of our leftovers? As a family of two, it seems like no matter how much halving of a recipe I do, we still end up with leftovers. So, we've embraced it. We learned from experience and a lot of wasted food that we don't eat leftovers from the same week very often. So, with the help of our food saver we are able to pack up our leftovers nice and air tight and freeze them. And then on another day when we're feeling lazy and not wanting to cook or if we're in a hurry we can just through them in the microwave to thaw, and reheat them however we want. Its wonderful.

But, this recipe is also a wonderful way to use leftover meat. We enjoyed this recipe with leftover meat from our Mexican Pulled Pork tacos, but if you have leftover shredded beef or chicken I am betting this would taste amazing with those too. And once you already have the meat ready (whether you choose to use my pulled pork or not) this recipe is super easy. And extra delicious too. Win win.

Recipe slightly inspired from Our Best Bites

2 - 3 cups Mexican Pulled Pork
3 oz cream cheese
1/2 (12 oz) can green salsa (in the aisle with enchilada sauces)
juice from 1 lime
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
10 tortillas large tortillas (or more small tortillas)
salt

1.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Spray a baking sheet with non stick spray.
3. Microwave cream cheese for about 30 seconds until soft.
4. In a large bowl combine pork, cream cheese, green salsa, lime juice and cheese. Mix well.
5. Take one tortilla and place about 3 TBS of pork mixture on the lower half of the tortilla.
6. Roll the tortilla up as tight as you can.
7. Place taquitos on baking pan with the seam side down.
8. Lightly spray the tops of the taquitos with non stick spray and sprinkle with salt.
9. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until they are crispy and the ends turn golden brown.
10. Enjoy dipped in some salsa, sour cream or guacamole. Yum!

Ps. We only ate 7 (of the 10) taquitos the first day, and put the rest in the fridge. They tasted great again the second day (as leftovers!) and next time we make these we'll probably make a lot more so we can freeze some and have them ready to go.

What do you do with your leftovers?

Loaded Mashed Potatoes

Loaded Mashed Potatoes

5-6 medium Potatoes

1 TBS Chives

1 TBS Salt

1 tsp Pepper

1/4 cup Butter, melted

1 cup Greek Yogurt

1/2 cup Milk

1 cups Mozzarella Cheese

2/3 cup Bacon Bits

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Boil a large pot of water over medium heat.
3. Meanwhile (peel if you want and) cut potatoes into eighths.
4. When water is boiling add potato pieces and boil for 15-20 minutes, or until soft.
5. Drain potatoes and add them to a large bowl.
6. Add butter, yogurt and milk and mix until smooth.
7. Stir in chives, salt and pepper, and 1/2 cup of mozzarella.
8. Spray a 8x8 or bread loaf pan with non stick spray.
9. Add potatoes to pan.
10. Top with bacon bits and slightly push in to the potato mixture.
11. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
12. Uncover and top with additional mozzarella cheese.
13. Bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Enjoy as a side to any one of your favorite meals.

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Coleslaw

Can you believe that until last week I had never made coleslaw before? With the help of our handy dandy kitchen aid Slicer/Shredder Attachment we were able to shred the cabbage and carrots our self without even flinching. If you don't have a KitchenAid(you should buy one now - it will help you in the kitchen with so many things - especially with dough) or the Slicer/Shredder Attachment (you should buy one of those too), don't fear you can buy shredded cabbage and carrots from the store, or you can grate your own the old fashion way with a cheese grater.

Anyway you do it, you should make some of this delicious coleslaw to enjoy on top of these southern bbq hot dogs we had. Or as a side to your favorite american meal.

3 cups shredded cabbage
1 cup shredded carrots
3/4 cup mayo**
1 1/2 TBS vinegar
2 TBS sugar

**We used non fat mayo and it tasted just as great. A simple way to make this recipe a little healthier.

1. Combine the cabbage and carrots in a medium sized bowl.
2. In a small bowl whisk together the mayo, vinegar and sugar.
3. Pour liquid over cabbage mixture.
4. Mix well.
5. Enjoy.

Sweet Bacon Wrapped Pineapple

Once upon a time, when I was still newly married, the hubs decided to go to Green River with his brother to go fishing. Now, being newly married I didn't like the idea of being home alone. I'd gotten pretty used to having some one warm sleep next to me. But I also wasn't very excited to have an evening alone with nothing to do. 

But lucky for me, my friend Emily's husband was actually going to be gone for the weekend as well. Although Emily and I didn't cuddle together in bed for the night, it was nice to have her come over for the evening. We were able to catch up on each other's lives and of course we were able to make some delicious food as well. 

And Emily introduced me to the deliciousness that is pineapple wrapped in bacon. Unfortunately I never made this recipe again, until this week. But now that I've made it again I remembered how easy and delicious it is. I think it will become a regular occurrence in our house.

 pineapple chunks

bacon

ketchup

brown sugar

toothpicks

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

2. Cut each strip of bacon into thirds.

3. Combine equal parts ketchup and brown sugar in a separate bowl.

4. Lay foil on a cookie sheet.

5. Wrap one piece of bacon (remember its 1/3 of a strip) around a pineapple chunk.

6. Stick with a toothpick to hold in place.

7. Using a basting brush put brown sugar ketchup mixture on top of the pineapple bacon bite.

8. Place bites on foil lined cookie sheet.

9. Bake for about 18 to 20 minutes.**

** The bacon doesn't get very crispy. And trust me I am a crispy bacon girl. But, these taste delicious even with out the crispiness. 

Enjoy.

Prosciutto_Wrapped Asparagus

Tonight's dinner was brought to you by what caught my eye at the grocery store.  I went in to the store to purchase Chipotle Chilies in Adobe Sauce for a new recipe and there in all its glory was some beautiful, young asparagus.  I had just seen this recipe Prosciutto_Wrapped Asparagus from my niece in-law's facebook and had also seen a picture of Jana eating something similar so I changed my mind about what we were having for dinner.  I also bought blueberries to make this scone recipe and it was delicious too.

Ingredients

1 bunch of asparagus, trimmed
14 thin slices of prosciutto

Dijon mustard
Freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Method

Preheat oven to 425°.



1 bunch of asparagus rinsed and trimmed

Cover asparagus with water in a large, deep skillet and bring to a boil. Cook just until tender, 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer asparagus to a bowl of ice water until chilled to stop the cooking; drain well.



Cook in boiling water 2 to 3 minutes

 

Set in cold water to stop the cooking

Spread a little Dijon mustard on each slice of prosciutto and lay 2 pieces together on top of each other.



This was 1/4 pound and you can see it is cut very thin

Divide asparagus into 7 piles, wrapping each with  two slices of prosciutto around the center to form a bundle.



Wrapped asparagus on baking sheet



Transfer to a baking sheet, season with pepper and sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano.



Cheese



Grated cheese, this was more than I needed so I saved the rest in a ziploc baggie



Sprinkled with the cheese, fresh grounded pepper



Roast until cheese is golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes.



Ready to eat

This was very delicious.  Craig said it was even better the 2nd day. It was also suggested that you could use herbed goat cheese and spread it between the layers of prosciutto instead of the mustard or you could serve it without the mustard.  Hope you enjoy it.

Aimee had asked in an earlier post about a food you hated as a child and grew up loving later.  I hated asparagus and never ever wanted to eat it.  Now I love it.  I enjoyed this recipe, I eat it fresh, I eat it in salads, pasta and fresh zapped too.  I hope you enjoy asparagus also.


Don't you love that I gave you pictures. :)

Parmesan Crusted Zucchini

After seeing this recipe on Our Best Bites and knowing I had a lot of zucchini and than forgetting where I originally saw the recipe and than googling zucchini recipes this recipe was created from a combination of recipes but very similar to the original Our Best Bites recipe.

2 small 1" around 10 inch long zucchini
1/2 cup flour (1 recipe called for coconut flour but I have no idea where to find that)
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
1/2  to 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (the already bottled stuff like Kraft)
seasonings to taste - I used garlic salt and paprika  (feel free to use other Italian seasonings)
2 eggs

Slice zucchini into 1/4 inch slices

Beat 2 eggs



Sorry, this picture was an afterthought so it has some of the flour in it.

 Dip the zucchini in the flour to coat them.



You can tell I am not really into perfect uniform slices

 Dip the zucchini in the beaten eggs to coat them.

Mix panko crumbs, Parmesan cheese and seasonings so the flavors are spread throughout.

Dip the zucchini slices in the crumb mixture to coat them.
Place on foil covered cookie sheet to bake.

Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes, turn over and bake another 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool enough to eat.

You can serve with a ranch dipping sauce or eat as is.  I thought I would want to dip them but I decided there was enough flavor to enjoy them yummy like this.  They tend to stay warm/hot on the inside so be careful biting into them at the beginning.

Garlic Bread Sticks

 

 These were seriously some of the best bread sticks I have ever had. The dough recipe we use makes the best pizza dough ever, so we figured we should try it for bread sticks and they turned out amazing as well. (I'm sure you could use your favorite pizza dough recipe if you don't trust ours.)


1/2 cup margarine, melted
1/8 cup parmesan cheese
1 TBS parsley
1 TBS chopped garlic
1 tsp garlic salt
pizza dough 

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2.  Separate dough into about 15 pieces.
3. Roll dough out into stick shapes.
4. Combine margarine, parmesan, parsley, garlic and garlic salt.
5. Coat bread sticks with margarine mixture.
6. Place bread sticks in oven on pizza stone or cookie sheet.
7. Bake bread sticks for about 8 minutes, until golden brown.
8. After bread sticks are baked, re-coat with margarine spread.
9. Enjoy as a side for a salad or some warm soup.

Baked Southwestern Rolls

Do any of you use pinterest? Do you remember when I wrote here about the lists of recipes I want to some day try. Well nowadays I'm not as much adding recipes to my list as I am adding them to my pinboard. (If you want an invite let me know, I'll hook you up) I love being able to store these amazing looking recipes, and being able to see their pictures quickly too (totally my favorite part). Also, I love being able to see the recipes that look good to my family and friends too. So, one day I saw this recipe on somebody's board, and it looked delicious and I wanted to make it. So this is my version with a few alterations.

 

Baked Southwestern Rolls

2 chicken breasts

1 (10 oz) can corn, drained

1 (10 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup spinach, chopped

 1 (7oz) can diced green chilies 

4 green onions, chopped

1/2 red pepper, chopped

1 TBS cumin

1/2 TBS chili powder

1 TBS salt

1/2 TBS pepper

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 package egg rolls

1. Boil chicken until thoroughly cooked

2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees

3. Shred chicken with 2 forks

4. Combine everything in a large mixing bowl.

5. Mix well.

6. Lay an egg roll wrapper out with a corner facing you.

7. Place about 1/4 cup of the filling in the middle lower half.

8. Fold the 2 outward points and fold them in.

9. Take the tip closest to you and roll over the mixture until mixture is covered.

10. Dip your finger in water (or beaten egg) and wipe over the free corner of the egg roll.

11. Press to seal closed.

12. Repeat with the remaining egg rolls.

13. Grease a baking sheet with cooking spray.

14. Place the egg rolls on the pan seam side down.

15. Bake for 15 minutes, flipping halfway through baking.

16. Serve with salsa and sour cream.

This meal was a little time consuming, only because we had to thaw the chicken, boil water, and cook the chicken before we could really get started. But you could totally use leftover chicken or a rotisserie chicken to make this a little easier. Although the chicken took a little while to cook, this meal was totally worth it. It was absolutely delicious and really healthy too!

We actually chose to only cook up about 10 rolls, and we decided to freeze the rest of the mixture, but I'm way excited to come upon it in the near future and use it for this same recipe, taco salad, quesadillas or something else yummy.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did!

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